CHAPTER II.
READING OF THE WILL.
Mrs. Brand, in her lead coffin, in its rosewood shell, was slumbering in the stately vault of her ancestors, and Mr. Davenport held in his hands the last will of her whose will had in her life ever been law, and glanced around to see that all the legatees were there.
St. Udo Brand, the tardy heir, was present, quietly waiting to hear the reading of the will with that decorous gravity with which we wait to bear our honors.
Dr. Gay was there, because his departed friend had requested him to do so.
It was in the library; the walls of books glittered in calf and gilt in the pleasant April sunlight; the glass door was opened upon the perfumed garden walks; and the twitter of the busy birds came sweetly over beds of crocuses and early blossoms to break the silence.
"Where is Miss Walsingham? Shouldn't she be here?" asked the doctor.
"I don't think she'll come down, sir," said the housekeeper.
Mr. Davenport cleared his throat.